Tytoo Gardens

Hello and sorry for no posts lately! We have been having issues with the blog so will update you on the past week. We got to Tytoo last Tuesday and were meet by the 53 kids here. So much has happened here so I will give you a quick update:
-trip to the homeless shelter and are trying to rescue a malnourished little girl and take her to the orphanage
-Vi Bella: a work project in the community for women to help create jewelry from plastic bottles as well as sewing projects to sell. We helped move the sewing supplies from Tytoo to the Vi Bella community center to get some of the Tytoo girls started on a project
-a trip to the market
-Maria and Cazi's wedding: Maria works with Frank and Esther at Tytoo and got married on Saturday. The wedding was held here at the orphanage and the kids had a blast with the dance party after!
-twins: last week a mom brought her two 4 month old babies to the clinic. They were extremely malnourished and sick. Esther sent them to a hospital and they came back the next day because the hospital told them they couldn't help them. She moved in with her babies and 2 year old so she could get constant care. One of the babies we put a feeding tube in because she wouldn't eat because she was so short of breath. She ended up passing away the night of the wedding. The next day the mother left with her other two children saying she would return but has not. It has been a difficult situation that we are continuing to pray for in hopes that the mother would get the help she needs for her children and herself.
-clinic: we observed Frank and Esther working in their clinic here at Tytoo. Today there were 13 patients. The first man was the worst with an infected thumb that was huge from a fish bone cut. We  had to leave the room because we were a little queazy....they had to cut open his thumb to get the infection out....yuck! He felt way better after though =) We also had some pregnant women come in and were able to listen to the babies heartbeat which was amazing. We ended up having another lady come in with her week old baby later on and the baby was extremely sick. Esther explained to us how the baby had jaundice, possibly liver failure and had a dark ring around his mouth which showed he had a difficult time with oxygen intake. They were not capable to treat him so sent the mother and baby to a hospital
That is a rough update of the past week here. We have been able to love on the children and learn a few random Creole words. We would love continued prayers for health, the kids here, and the people that come here to the clinic and Frank and Esther and their family. We are having a wonderful time and will update you again soon!
Orevwa!
Lindsay and Allison

messy, sweaty, wonderful days loving on some children

What a few wonderful days we have had here! They have been busy and full of goodness. There has been a team in from Minnesota and they are building a swing set (the kids LOVE it already and it doesn't even have the swings yet), doing some painting, some cleaning, and playing with the kids. I have been able to spend some time with the babies during the last 2 days as well as time with the older kids and have just been enjoying every minute of it. We have had 2 more pizza parties; we finished the last one up tonight. The kids have loved the pizza and a movie. Today Joyce and a few others from church stopped by and it was good to see them for a few minutes. We chatted, they got a tour, and then they headed onto their next destination. Dorothy needed to go to the bank so Lindsay and I rode along and then she gave us a little tour on the way back home. We got to see the children's hospital, a school some of the kids go to, the U.S. Embassy, and more of Haiti. This afternoon I went out and sat in a chair while kids climbed on my lap and then went running off to play on the swingset. Lindsay and I did some laundry before we made pizzas and had a really good evening eating pizza with the older kids tonight. The team will be in again tomorrow to finish up the swing set and then we will be back to planning activities to do with the kids. I can't believe that we only have less than a week at Faith-Hope-Love Infant Rescue!

-Allison

Painting

This week we are trying to do a planned activity with the kids each morning. Yesterday we got out the tub of paints in our room and divided the kids up in three different groups. We just used watercolor paints and the kids loved it. Our first group was all boys and it went great. We had plain paper and ripped out coloring sheets for them to use. Our second group was boys too and they were a little more crazy. We had some of the younger boys and their attention span didn't last too long. Last, we took the seven girls in. The older girls did really well while MyLove was eating the paint and RoseMichelle was running around holding up her diaper because it was full and down to her knees. We had to take the little girls back early and couldn't get the older girls to leave. We cleaned up and have a huge stack of paintings in our room! After lunch we played with the babies. Esther, a nanny, was with them and she loves to sing so we sang and then we got our English to Creole book out for her. I think we spent an hour reading the Creole words and then the English words. We would have gone longer but Dorothy asked if we wanted to ride with her to pick up Tamara. Tamara is starting therapy at the hospital and had an evaluation all day. At night Dorothy went through some boxes of clothes and fabric she received from a friend. The older kids were upstairs and she had the girls each pick out a dress to wear Sunday so she could make them a necklace. We sent the kids downstairs and we ate leftovers and worked on getting beads together for a necklace. We ended up making one and it turned our really cute. Overall we had a great day and are expecting temperatures in the 100's today and as of right now we don't have electricity so we are definately feeling the heat!

Lindsay

Reading, Rest, and Rats

What a wonderful day!
Before church, Lindsay and I had about a half an hour to just read books to 4 of the older kids; Claudine, Rosa, Gertlene, and Sha Sha. 3 of them do not speak fluent English, but still loved listening to the stories.
After church we came back and ate lunch. During lunch Dorothy told us to take a day of rest, so we did. We hung out in our room for a while, reading, uploading pictures, and doing puzzles. The we started to hear thunder, so we went to sit on the roof and watch the storm come in. The storm never came in, but went right on by us over the mountain. While we were sitting up there Sha Sha and Gertlene told us to close our eyes because they had a surprise for us, it was a "snack"! They had cooked plastic chicken and grapes and delivered them to us. After a while of sitting upstairs we went back to just lay down for a while. We both took a little nap, and after our nap we went out to see what was going on. Mike and Brent were here, so we chatted with them for a little while. They headed out and we made dinner, chicken wings and potatos. yum! While everything was cooking Lindsay, Dorothy, and I enjoyed our pictures and a little music for a while. Lindsay has taken a ton of pictures, so we just watched a slideshow of them. Dinner was wonderful, and after dinner come the exciting part. (Brent, if you are reading this, this part is for you) I was bringing my plate into the kitchen to set in the sink when all of a sudden I saw this little furry grey thing run past the counter behind the microwave. I didn't scream, just yelled rat. That's when Dorothy came with her broom to get it out from behind the microwave and Nala, her big dog grabbed it and ran with it. There is one less rat in here tonight.

-Allison

Blessed

I am so blessed!
The electricity has been going out a lot and we all get excited when the light outside comes on saying we have city power back. Cold showers at night feel great although it takes a second to get used to. The cockroaches that show up in the most random places give us adventure for the day. This morning I woke up to Allison telling me we had a cockroach just hanging out in our toilet. Lucky for us, after a few flushes he finally went down. We did our laundry yesterday and we had a washing machine although we had to fill it up with water ourselves and hang them on a clothesline to dry. Dorothy's smile was priceless after a few of the older kids did a little fashion show for us during our dinner. The other night we had about 15 kids come upstairs to have a movie night and popcorn. We all huddled around a laptop and watched Shrek 2. Claude, a little boy here, took his first steps without any help and Fadaphora, one of the twin girls, rolled over from her back to her stomach. After lunch the kids all started singing Ho Ho Ho, Hosannah, Ha Ha Hallelujah.... We ate watermelon and pancakes. The kids had to get their report cards from school the other day and they all had big grins when they walked in the house. Tonight some kids made hotdogs in cresent rolls with us. Dorothy was able to turn on the inverter and we got internet and the fans working!


Lindsay

Patience = Virtue

One thing I've learned about life in Haiti is that patience is key. So often there will be plans, but things change, or you need to get somewhere, but that's never a fast process. Today Lindsay and I went to the grocery store with Dorothy, the lady that runs the home. She drove and the grocery store really isn't that far away, but it probably took us 30 minutes to get there just because traffic was backed up, and a truck with all return glass pop bottles lost a bunch and there was broken glass all over the middle of the road.
The Lord has been teaching me to have patience and through that rely on Him and His plans. I don't need to make my own plans, I need to surrender myself to Him each and every day. I need to let Him take control of my life and guide me to where He needs me each and every day.
Colossians 3:12 "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience."

-Allison


ps. it hasn't been working to upload pictures to the blog or to facebook, but we will keep trying

A good day!

We woke up this morning to roosters crowing and kids giggling and running around outside and no power so no fans so super hot! They are up the minute the sun shines, ready to go. We ate breakfast and went to find the kids. In the morning they play in the basement while they have baths and brush their teeth and a change of clothes. It gets crazy with a small area of space, but we head outside before lunch to get fresh air. Today a group came in from Texas to join Mike and Mandy (one of the American families) and joined us for lunch and playtime. They left and while the kids were eating, we snuck to our room and took a little nap. Sha Sha, a boy at the home who speaks fluent English, really wanted to play so shimmied up the bathroom door and poked his head through an opening at the top. After our break we went outside to play and sing with the kids. Esther, a nanny here, loves to learn English and so we were teaching her songs in English. It sprinkled out for a little bit and the kids went crazy! Allison came inside and played with the older kids while Lindsay went to the basement with the younger kids. They went to dinner so we came back to the room to chill before we cooked our own dinner. Tonight was hotdogs in cresent rolls. After dinner we did dishes and worked on a puzzle and heard the mice running through the cupboards. Brent put us in charge of the rat traps he bought so we will see what we get tomorrow. Today has been a wonderful day. Check back soon - we are hoping to upload pictures although the internet is really slow.
Orevwa!

We Made It!

We have arrived safely in Haiti! All of our flights went well, and after making it through customs and immigration we found Dorothy. She was waiting at the end of the walkway for us with a sign so we could identify her. We piled in her truck and headed over to Faith, Hope, and Love Infant Rescue. When we arrived we were greeted by 2 other American families who are spending the summer in Haiti. We dropped our stuff off in our room, got a tour, and then went outside to meet the kids. One of the guys warned us that we were going to be bombarded, and he was right! All of the kids came running and wanted to be held. We held kids, asked them their names, and just played for a while. We ended up going out to dinner with Dorothy and the 2 other families. When we got back that night all of the kids were sleeping, so we didn't do much more that night.
We woke up around 8 and got ready for church. We went to an English speaking church. After church we came back and ate rice and beans. We picked up the other American families and stopped by another orphanage through Christian Light Ministries. We came back and played with the kids. We are getting to know Rosa, a young girl here that we sponsor. We are so blessed that we are able to meet her. We had dinner -lasagna and then a few of the older kids wanted to make us a party so picked unripe sour oranges and cut them up and juiced them for us...they managed to pick over 50! It was great and it kept them occupied for a long time. We also had out first encounter with the giant cockroaches that found themselves in our shower and would fly around...it was nasty!
So far, today has been great. We have been playing and singing with the kids all morning. We will update later on. Have a good day!